NJ man sentenced for violent Manville police chase

⚖️ A Somerset County man must serve 27 years before parole after a violent Manville police chase conviction.
🚓 Prosecutors said Brian Niziolek rammed an officer with a stolen car before crashing and hiding in a crawl space.
🚓 The Basking Ridge resident also faces a new charge for an in-court incident

SOMERVILLE — A Somerset County man with a criminal record has been sent back to prison, after being convicted of offenses from a wild, armed police chase in which he struck an officer with a stolen car.

Brian Niziolek was sentenced to 30 years on Jan. 28, by Somerset County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Tober.

The 39-year-old Niziolek must serve 27 years before he is eligible for parole.

On Dec. 11, the Basking Ridge resident was found guilty by a Somerset County jury on nine counts, including aggravated assault, eluding, burglary while armed with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.

The next day, he waived his right to a jury trial on a second-degree charge of certain persons not to possess firearms — he was convicted on that, as well.

Niziolek is also facing a newer charge after being accused of spitting on an attorney seated at his trial in December.

He believed the person was a witness for the state, and he later told a sheriff’s officer that he was “having a bad day,” and admitted, “I f***ed up.”

On Jan. 12, Niziolek was charged with third-degree attempted witness retaliation and harassment, a disorderly person’s offense.

Police chase through Manville ends with officer injured

On June 29, 2023, Manville Police were called to respond to a stolen vehicle and found Niziolek at the wheel along Pope Street.

They got out of their patrol car and walked toward Niziolek, who aimed at one of the officers and sped up, hitting the victim in the hip and arm and ramming the officer against his own vehicle.

Niziolek then took off, with police in pursuit, speeding down the local streets above 60 miles an hour and heading the wrong way down a one-way street.

Niziolek ran, hid in crawl space before arrest

He crashed into a vehicle and then a house on North 5th Avenue, leaving the car and running to an apartment building on Brooks Boulevard.

Manville police, backed by officers from Bridgewater, Hillsborough, and a Somerset County Sheriff’s Department K9 Unit, surrounded the building, entered its basement, and found Niziolek hiding in a crawl space.

Manville police arrest Brian Niziolek after 2023 car chase (Somerset County Prosecutor's Office via Facebook)

Prosecutors cite disturbing statements made after arrest

During the trial, prosecutors shared disturbing testimony, quoting Niziolek after he was pulled from that crawl space and handcuffed over two years ago.

He told arresting officers that he “hated” police; that police “need to die”; that he would “kill any cop I see from now on,” and “every time a cop gets shot in the face or shot anywhere, and especially if they die, I throw a party with all my friends.”

“We get drinks, food, smoke weed, we watch the videos of the f****** ass cop getting shot, couple times, have a few laughs. I laugh when they get shot. The funniest thing would be if a mother****** pulled a gun on one of y’all ****** and made you cry and they shot you in the face.”

A search of the stolen car also recovered an illegal, MAC-11 type 9mm semi-automatic assault firearm, an illegal high-capacity ammunition magazine containing 30 rounds, and a bullet-proof vest.

The jury deliberated for just six hours before returning their verdict.

Niziolek has been considered a “persistent offender,” with several prior convictions including sexual assault, aggravated assault, drug offenses, unlawful possession of a handgun, and obstruction, state records show.

He was released from prison in November 2022, about seven months before this series of events led to his being arrested in June 2023.

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